Agenda and minutes

There were no substitutes declared.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Rona Burt, Christine Mason and Reg Silvester.

Members of the public who live or work in the District are invited to put question / statements of not more than 3 minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within 3 minutes the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall limit of 15 minutes of public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

There were no questions/statements from members of the public.

Report No: OAS/FH/16/028

A selection of public transport operators have been invited to the meeting to discuss transport issues affecting Red Lodge.  This is the second enquiry meeting looking at transport links for rural villages in Forest Heath. 

The Committee received Report No: OAS/FH/16/028, which was the second in a series of reports/meetings looking at the disjointed and unpredictable way of public transport connections in Forest Heath, particularly in the case of Red Lodge.

For this meeting, the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, in consultation with Councillor Lance Stanbury Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth had selected four public transport operators to invite to the meeting to discuss transport issues affecting Red Lodge (Abellio Greater Anglia; Coach Services Limited; Mulleys Motorways Limited and Stephensons of Essex).   

Each of the four providers had been asked in advance of the meeting to respond to a series of questions.  Responses were received from three of the transport providers and were attached at Appendix 1to Report No: OAS/FH/16/028 (Abellio Greater Anglia; Coach Services Limited and Stephensons of Essex).  Attached at Appendix 1A to the report was a late response to the questions submitted by Mulleys Motorways Limited on 17 October 2016. 

The aim of the meeting on 20 October 2016 was to hear from the transport providers regarding the rural transport services they provide; their integration in Red Lodge, and for the Committee to discuss its concerns. 

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Dean Robbie, Service Delivery Manager from Stephensons of Essex.

Dean briefly informed the Committee on the history of Stephensons of Essex; his role in the company as Service Delivery Manager and previous transport roles held.  He explained that the aim of Stephensons of Essex was to integrate services where possible.  However, this was not included as an element in the tendering process when bidding for new routes.  The company tried to liaise with train companies, but the trains did not often co-ordinate with schools.  95% of the time the company did get it right, and tried to improve where it was not so good such as trying to improve communications and the selling of services, which was a joint venture between the buses and local authority. 

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Growth discussed the wider issue of economic development, in particular Red Lodge, which was growing.  He informed the Committee that public transport from Red Lodge to Cambridge did not link up, and questioned how this could be achieved. 

In response, Dean explained that the company was trying to achieve growth on the 16-16A bus route, which ran an hourly service from Newmarket via Red Lodge to Bury St Edmunds.  The company wanted to sell its service with reliable and decent buses to grow the business further into Suffolk.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Growth addressed Dean as to whether there could be an opportunity to see if the 16/16A bus route could be used as a pilot with Forest Heath District Council; Suffolk County Council and officers to work with Stephensons of Essex to really try and get the route going. 

In response Dean stated that the company aimed to work with everybody, and that the company as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115.